[15] In 2018 Sayers, while serving as CEO of PwC Australia, was connected to conflict of interest issues and an investigation related to a personal investment in Australian Visa Processing (AVP).
[16][17] AVP was a company part-owned by PwC that was submitting a tender to redesign and run Australia's visa processing system, potentially worth billions of dollars, which would result in a significant financial advantage for its investors including Sayers.
[18] Other investors included managing partner of firm strategy and ASEANZ Consulting Sammy Kumar, a close friend of Sayers,[16] and government and public sector leader, Tony Peake.
[34][27] Sayers has been repeatedly linked to the PwC tax scandal, having served as CEO during the period of time that the unauthorised disclosures by Peter Collins took place.
[39] In June 2021 Sayers in his role as president-elect, during the transition period, also initiated a panel that consisted of Carlton Football Club CEO Cain Liddle with external panel members Matthew Pavlich, Geoff Walsh and Graham Lowe to lead an independent external review into the club’s football department operations in the wake of poor on-field results in the 2021 season due to disappointment of expectations.
[42] On 10 September 2021 Sayers also stated: “We are entering a reset phase for our football club, and while we have built a strong platform in a business sense, the ability to ensure our on-field position matches, our off-field one is an area that must be addressed,”.
While our club is in a strong position off the field, we intend to take this to another level, by being proactive and innovative and Brian, as CEO, will play a pivotal role in leading that approach".